Chapter 35 - Clowning Around
"Jerk!"
"Nerdette!"
"Horse's ass!"
"Geek queen!"
I whimpered softly and put my head in my hands. Yolie and Davis were supposed to be helping me get home. 'Supposed' being the key word here. They had agreed to a truce from their ordinary bickering.
That lasted until they finally got me into the wheelchair.
The argument started with a definite purpose in mind. Who was going to push the wheelchair?
That, in turn, lasted all of five seconds before it degenerated into basic name-calling.
That's it. I'm getting out of here. Now.
My parents were working, and the other Digidestined were occupied or at school, with the exception of the afore mentioned Davis and Yolie. I looked down, disengaged the brakes, and wheeled my self the hell out of there before they killed each other. Being an accessory to murder would not be a pleasant way to round out the week.
Of course, in the hallway, I lasted all of three seconds.
"Excuse me, but should you be out of your room alone in that chair?"
I turned to see a rather severe looking nurse. I gulped a little.
"Well, I should probably have someone with me to escort me out, but they're, um… a little preoccupied…"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Really. Well, we'll just have to see about that!"
I watched, slightly fascinated, with a bemused expression on my face as she entered the room that I had just exited.
The yelling sounds stopped momentarily as she entered. Then they increased ten-fold, this time punctuated by screeches and several loud crashing noises. A moment later the door opened and a disheveled Davis and Yolie stepped out, followed by the nurse who just glared at them, nodded at me, and walked back down the hall, her feet clicking on the tile floors.
Yolie and Davis turned towards me sheepishly. Davis shuffled his feet nervously as Yolie spoke.
"Um, sorry Ken."
I rolled my eyes.
"Well, at least you didn't go on too long, though I'm not sure that would have been the case if that nurse hadn't intervened."
Davis was a little spooked at that, and glanced back over his shoulder before shuddering.
"Yeah, with that in mind, can we go now?"
I grinned.
"Yeah, as long as one of you two is pushing me."
The two of them looked at each other, no doubt slightly afraid that this would start the argument all over again, with the same results likely. Davis paled a bit.
"Um, you can take him if you want to, Yolie…"
She bit her lip and shook her head.
"No, I don't mind, Davis. You can do it."
Davis just looked nervous, and fidgeted a bit. I slapped my forehead. They were dangerously close to having the same argument as before, except this time neither of them wanted to do it, as opposed to both of them wanting to.
Obviously, if anything's going to be done, I need to order it myself.
"All right, Yolie, if you would, could you please push the wheelchair? Davis, be a pal and make sure no one's in the way and open doors and things for us. Thanks."
They both just smiled, nodded, and went about the tasks I had assigned them.
It's going to be a long road to recovery.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days after Ken got out of the hospital, Tai, myself, and Gomamon were talking as we approached the street corner where we were supposed to be meeting.
"Are you sure you're doing okay Gomamon?"
He smiled a little.
"Of course I'm sure. I'm fine."
Tai gave him a withering look, and I giggled. He sighed.
"Look, you two, I'm as fine as I can be given the circumstances. Everything's relative after all."
I arched an eyebrow.
"That's rather profound for you Gomamon."
Gomamon grimaced.
"Oh, come on. Not you too Sora!"
I was about to answer, when a voice sounded from across the street.
"Ugh! Tai, I cannot believe that you stuck me with him. I'd rather have gone with Takato."
Kari said 'him' with the deepest disgust in her voice. The poor recipient of her thought process was TK. Tai was stuck in a look between amusement and annoyance.
"Two reasons. One, Takato can take care of himself. No matter how uncontrollable, BlackGuilmon is mega capable. Two, he vanished again earlier today. Ken says he probably just went to work, but he still wasn't here to partner up. Now, did you guys see any sign of Joe?"
Going against his earlier statement, Tai had decided that we should split into small groups to look for Joe. Cody remarked that Piedmon was like a storm. They could plan for eventualities, but we couldn't actually do anything about him unless he showed up, so we shouldn't let him get in the way of what was important. But still cautious, we were meeting at regular intervals just to make sure.
Kari shook her head.
"No, not a sign. I'm getting really worried. It's not like Joe to just run off like this, no matter what's happening."
Tai nodded, but shrugged.
"You're right, but you didn't see him last time. He was in pretty bad shape, capable of almost anything."
"Tai's right. Joe's not thinking clearly. We need to find him before he does something stupid."
We turned again, and I heaved a sigh of relief as Matt, Izzy and Mimi came into view, followed closely by Davis and Ken. We stood talking quietly amongst ourselves, people and digimon, for about five minutes. Finally Ken caved in and said what we were all thinking.
"Where are they? Cody and Yolie should have been back by now."
As if that was an entrance cue, Scorpiomon and Aquilamon flew into view a moment later, out two missing Digidestined on their backs. Cody screamed down at us.
"DIGIVOLE! NOW! PIEDMON'S RIGHT BEHIND US!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A sudden deafening boom knocked me over from where I was running through the park, where I was training after work. I swore as I realized that Piedmon was attacking again. I ran over to the edge of the park and made sure to stay low and hidden as I watched the battle.
Not again.
*BlackGuilmon…*
*Coming Takatomon!*
With the level of power and the sheer ferocity shown in the last attack by Piedmon, I was more than angry at him, and more than a little frustrated with the reborn Dark Masters altogether. I figured that someone else digivolving was more than justified. I watched Imperialdramon: Paladin Mode take another viscous assault.
"TRUMP SWORDS!"
I winced as BlackGuilmon came up to me in the place I was hidden.
"Ready Takatomon!"
I nodded.
Biomerge
Digivolution_
BlackGuilmon Biomerge to… ChaosGallantmon!
"GRANI!"
Grani shimmered in and swooped low. I jumped on and we took off for a cloudbank.
"OMEGA SWORD!"
To my surprise, the attack actually hit Piedmon. I was beginning to think that it was over when…
"NIGHTMARE CLAW!"
Huh? Since when does Piedmon know that attack? That's VenomMyotismon's attack! Oh, no…
I no longer had time to contemplate that last thought as Imperialdramon: Paladin Mode broke apart into four Rookies. I looked at the situation again. My analysis? It was two steps shy of hopeless. All of the Digidestined were there, but they were mostly down for the count. Then as Silphymon and Shakkoumon appeared to give it a final go, inspiration struck. I slipped my feet in the straps designed to hold me there.
I'm gonna feel this one in the morning. Grani, turn upside down please.
"CRYSTAL MATRIX!"
Digivolution_
Silphymon Digivolve to… Valkyrimon!
Shakkoumon Digivolve to… Vikemon!
Tentomon Warp Digivolve to… HerculesKabuterimon!
Biyomon Warp Digivolve to… Phoenixmon!
Gomamon Warp Digivolve to… Preciomon!
Palmon Warp Digivolve to… Rosemon!
Piedmon burst into data shortly afterwards. If I hadn't been so caught up with trying to make it to the ground before losing consciousness I might have remembered my earlier thoughts about Piedmon using VenomMyotismon's attack.
But that wasn't the case. I had just made it back to the ground when I toppled off Grani's back and dedigivolved from the strain, collapsing right there. It was about an hour before I was able to make my was back to Ken's apartment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"KARI!"
She looked back at me and groaned.
"Look, TK, all I want to do right now is go home and sleep for twelve hours. Is that too much to ask?"
I shook my head.
"No… It's just that every time I get a chance to talk to you alone, you keep blowing me off. I need you to take me seriously for a moment. I…"
I trailed off, not really knowing how to say it. Kari's face softened for a moment.
"You what, TK?"
I closed my eyes and just got it out and done with.
"I'm sorry."
Her expression didn't change.
"For?"
Oh, I see, she's going to make me say all of it.
"I'm sorry I screwed up."
She arched an eyebrow as if to say 'That's it? Not good enough and you know it'. I started again.
"I'm sorry I doubted you. I'm sorry I tried to rule you instead of support you. I'm sorry that I'm such an ass. I-"
She sighed and looked down, examining her feet.
"Look. TK, this isn't easy for me either, but it's the way it is. I just need some… time, that's all."
A slightly bitter smile crossed my features, and I'm sure she caught it, but didn't interrupt me.
"But if I give you that time… I don't want to loose you Kari. I didn't to Davis, and I don't want to loose you now to Takato."
I frowned as a slightly amused look flitted across her face. Then she seemed slightly embarrassed.
"Yeah, about that… Takato and I aren't exactly dating."
"What?"
"Well, he kind of need some help after the whole BlackMegidramon thing. I mean, he was getting attacked left and right by girls. Since I was unattached, I thought that maybe I could help."
My eyes nearly bugged out of my head.
"By going out with him?! Kari, that's…"
She smiled a little sadly.
"I know, I know. But seriously, just give some space and some time."
I looked at her.
"I just said I can't. You might not look at him like that right now, but can you say for certain that you'll still be able to say that in a week or two?"
She sighed then, and addressed her gaze to the heavens.
"Yes. TK, I didn't blow up at you that day because of Takato, that was just an excuse. What I couldn't stand was you telling me that I couldn't be in charge of my own life, that I couldn't make my own decisions, that I couldn't choose to put myself at risk for something I believed in - especially if you'd be doing the same in a second."
I nodded a little, but the frown still stayed.
"I know that, but it still doesn't answer my question."
"I guess there are two reasons why I could never see Takato that way. The first… he's too much like Tai. Every time I look at him, I see the same things. I'd be too much like dating him."
She just trailed off, so I prompted her.
"And the second?"
"The second, well that's connected to the first in a way, because Tai and Takato are both like this, but Takato's too… intense… in battle. He never seems to hesitate; he simply goes for the throat. I know that it has to do with the digital world where he comes from, and that he only fights like that to protect us, but… when he's fighting, he seems… lost in it, like battle is something he enjoys. He'd never hurt any of us, and he's willing to show mercy when it's appropriate, but I don't think I could really be with someone like him. Not at all."
I smiled a little then.
"So it's really just to help him then?"
She grinned.
"Yeah. To honest though, I had to drag him kicking and screaming into it. But I thought that it was either this or a restraining order against several of the other girls."
We both started laughing, and we started walking again. I wanted Kari to be mine again, but like she said, that would take time. For now I was simply content to be friends again.
"Jerk!"
"Nerdette!"
"Horse's ass!"
"Geek queen!"
I whimpered softly and put my head in my hands. Yolie and Davis were supposed to be helping me get home. 'Supposed' being the key word here. They had agreed to a truce from their ordinary bickering.
That lasted until they finally got me into the wheelchair.
The argument started with a definite purpose in mind. Who was going to push the wheelchair?
That, in turn, lasted all of five seconds before it degenerated into basic name-calling.
That's it. I'm getting out of here. Now.
My parents were working, and the other Digidestined were occupied or at school, with the exception of the afore mentioned Davis and Yolie. I looked down, disengaged the brakes, and wheeled my self the hell out of there before they killed each other. Being an accessory to murder would not be a pleasant way to round out the week.
Of course, in the hallway, I lasted all of three seconds.
"Excuse me, but should you be out of your room alone in that chair?"
I turned to see a rather severe looking nurse. I gulped a little.
"Well, I should probably have someone with me to escort me out, but they're, um… a little preoccupied…"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Really. Well, we'll just have to see about that!"
I watched, slightly fascinated, with a bemused expression on my face as she entered the room that I had just exited.
The yelling sounds stopped momentarily as she entered. Then they increased ten-fold, this time punctuated by screeches and several loud crashing noises. A moment later the door opened and a disheveled Davis and Yolie stepped out, followed by the nurse who just glared at them, nodded at me, and walked back down the hall, her feet clicking on the tile floors.
Yolie and Davis turned towards me sheepishly. Davis shuffled his feet nervously as Yolie spoke.
"Um, sorry Ken."
I rolled my eyes.
"Well, at least you didn't go on too long, though I'm not sure that would have been the case if that nurse hadn't intervened."
Davis was a little spooked at that, and glanced back over his shoulder before shuddering.
"Yeah, with that in mind, can we go now?"
I grinned.
"Yeah, as long as one of you two is pushing me."
The two of them looked at each other, no doubt slightly afraid that this would start the argument all over again, with the same results likely. Davis paled a bit.
"Um, you can take him if you want to, Yolie…"
She bit her lip and shook her head.
"No, I don't mind, Davis. You can do it."
Davis just looked nervous, and fidgeted a bit. I slapped my forehead. They were dangerously close to having the same argument as before, except this time neither of them wanted to do it, as opposed to both of them wanting to.
Obviously, if anything's going to be done, I need to order it myself.
"All right, Yolie, if you would, could you please push the wheelchair? Davis, be a pal and make sure no one's in the way and open doors and things for us. Thanks."
They both just smiled, nodded, and went about the tasks I had assigned them.
It's going to be a long road to recovery.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days after Ken got out of the hospital, Tai, myself, and Gomamon were talking as we approached the street corner where we were supposed to be meeting.
"Are you sure you're doing okay Gomamon?"
He smiled a little.
"Of course I'm sure. I'm fine."
Tai gave him a withering look, and I giggled. He sighed.
"Look, you two, I'm as fine as I can be given the circumstances. Everything's relative after all."
I arched an eyebrow.
"That's rather profound for you Gomamon."
Gomamon grimaced.
"Oh, come on. Not you too Sora!"
I was about to answer, when a voice sounded from across the street.
"Ugh! Tai, I cannot believe that you stuck me with him. I'd rather have gone with Takato."
Kari said 'him' with the deepest disgust in her voice. The poor recipient of her thought process was TK. Tai was stuck in a look between amusement and annoyance.
"Two reasons. One, Takato can take care of himself. No matter how uncontrollable, BlackGuilmon is mega capable. Two, he vanished again earlier today. Ken says he probably just went to work, but he still wasn't here to partner up. Now, did you guys see any sign of Joe?"
Going against his earlier statement, Tai had decided that we should split into small groups to look for Joe. Cody remarked that Piedmon was like a storm. They could plan for eventualities, but we couldn't actually do anything about him unless he showed up, so we shouldn't let him get in the way of what was important. But still cautious, we were meeting at regular intervals just to make sure.
Kari shook her head.
"No, not a sign. I'm getting really worried. It's not like Joe to just run off like this, no matter what's happening."
Tai nodded, but shrugged.
"You're right, but you didn't see him last time. He was in pretty bad shape, capable of almost anything."
"Tai's right. Joe's not thinking clearly. We need to find him before he does something stupid."
We turned again, and I heaved a sigh of relief as Matt, Izzy and Mimi came into view, followed closely by Davis and Ken. We stood talking quietly amongst ourselves, people and digimon, for about five minutes. Finally Ken caved in and said what we were all thinking.
"Where are they? Cody and Yolie should have been back by now."
As if that was an entrance cue, Scorpiomon and Aquilamon flew into view a moment later, out two missing Digidestined on their backs. Cody screamed down at us.
"DIGIVOLE! NOW! PIEDMON'S RIGHT BEHIND US!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A sudden deafening boom knocked me over from where I was running through the park, where I was training after work. I swore as I realized that Piedmon was attacking again. I ran over to the edge of the park and made sure to stay low and hidden as I watched the battle.
Not again.
*BlackGuilmon…*
*Coming Takatomon!*
With the level of power and the sheer ferocity shown in the last attack by Piedmon, I was more than angry at him, and more than a little frustrated with the reborn Dark Masters altogether. I figured that someone else digivolving was more than justified. I watched Imperialdramon: Paladin Mode take another viscous assault.
"TRUMP SWORDS!"
I winced as BlackGuilmon came up to me in the place I was hidden.
"Ready Takatomon!"
I nodded.
Biomerge
Digivolution_
BlackGuilmon Biomerge to… ChaosGallantmon!
"GRANI!"
Grani shimmered in and swooped low. I jumped on and we took off for a cloudbank.
"OMEGA SWORD!"
To my surprise, the attack actually hit Piedmon. I was beginning to think that it was over when…
"NIGHTMARE CLAW!"
Huh? Since when does Piedmon know that attack? That's VenomMyotismon's attack! Oh, no…
I no longer had time to contemplate that last thought as Imperialdramon: Paladin Mode broke apart into four Rookies. I looked at the situation again. My analysis? It was two steps shy of hopeless. All of the Digidestined were there, but they were mostly down for the count. Then as Silphymon and Shakkoumon appeared to give it a final go, inspiration struck. I slipped my feet in the straps designed to hold me there.
I'm gonna feel this one in the morning. Grani, turn upside down please.
"CRYSTAL MATRIX!"
Digivolution_
Silphymon Digivolve to… Valkyrimon!
Shakkoumon Digivolve to… Vikemon!
Tentomon Warp Digivolve to… HerculesKabuterimon!
Biyomon Warp Digivolve to… Phoenixmon!
Gomamon Warp Digivolve to… Preciomon!
Palmon Warp Digivolve to… Rosemon!
Piedmon burst into data shortly afterwards. If I hadn't been so caught up with trying to make it to the ground before losing consciousness I might have remembered my earlier thoughts about Piedmon using VenomMyotismon's attack.
But that wasn't the case. I had just made it back to the ground when I toppled off Grani's back and dedigivolved from the strain, collapsing right there. It was about an hour before I was able to make my was back to Ken's apartment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"KARI!"
She looked back at me and groaned.
"Look, TK, all I want to do right now is go home and sleep for twelve hours. Is that too much to ask?"
I shook my head.
"No… It's just that every time I get a chance to talk to you alone, you keep blowing me off. I need you to take me seriously for a moment. I…"
I trailed off, not really knowing how to say it. Kari's face softened for a moment.
"You what, TK?"
I closed my eyes and just got it out and done with.
"I'm sorry."
Her expression didn't change.
"For?"
Oh, I see, she's going to make me say all of it.
"I'm sorry I screwed up."
She arched an eyebrow as if to say 'That's it? Not good enough and you know it'. I started again.
"I'm sorry I doubted you. I'm sorry I tried to rule you instead of support you. I'm sorry that I'm such an ass. I-"
She sighed and looked down, examining her feet.
"Look. TK, this isn't easy for me either, but it's the way it is. I just need some… time, that's all."
A slightly bitter smile crossed my features, and I'm sure she caught it, but didn't interrupt me.
"But if I give you that time… I don't want to loose you Kari. I didn't to Davis, and I don't want to loose you now to Takato."
I frowned as a slightly amused look flitted across her face. Then she seemed slightly embarrassed.
"Yeah, about that… Takato and I aren't exactly dating."
"What?"
"Well, he kind of need some help after the whole BlackMegidramon thing. I mean, he was getting attacked left and right by girls. Since I was unattached, I thought that maybe I could help."
My eyes nearly bugged out of my head.
"By going out with him?! Kari, that's…"
She smiled a little sadly.
"I know, I know. But seriously, just give some space and some time."
I looked at her.
"I just said I can't. You might not look at him like that right now, but can you say for certain that you'll still be able to say that in a week or two?"
She sighed then, and addressed her gaze to the heavens.
"Yes. TK, I didn't blow up at you that day because of Takato, that was just an excuse. What I couldn't stand was you telling me that I couldn't be in charge of my own life, that I couldn't make my own decisions, that I couldn't choose to put myself at risk for something I believed in - especially if you'd be doing the same in a second."
I nodded a little, but the frown still stayed.
"I know that, but it still doesn't answer my question."
"I guess there are two reasons why I could never see Takato that way. The first… he's too much like Tai. Every time I look at him, I see the same things. I'd be too much like dating him."
She just trailed off, so I prompted her.
"And the second?"
"The second, well that's connected to the first in a way, because Tai and Takato are both like this, but Takato's too… intense… in battle. He never seems to hesitate; he simply goes for the throat. I know that it has to do with the digital world where he comes from, and that he only fights like that to protect us, but… when he's fighting, he seems… lost in it, like battle is something he enjoys. He'd never hurt any of us, and he's willing to show mercy when it's appropriate, but I don't think I could really be with someone like him. Not at all."
I smiled a little then.
"So it's really just to help him then?"
She grinned.
"Yeah. To honest though, I had to drag him kicking and screaming into it. But I thought that it was either this or a restraining order against several of the other girls."
We both started laughing, and we started walking again. I wanted Kari to be mine again, but like she said, that would take time. For now I was simply content to be friends again.